It has gotten to the point that on almost a weekly basis somebody wants to pay me to read their stand-up comedy material.

And most of the time, I will respectfully decline — without hesitation or reservation. Why?

Here’s what I know about somebody who wants me to “read” their comedy material to tell them if it is funny or not — especially for those who have never even gotten on stage:

1. They are still trying to “write” funny as opposed to structuring what it is they want to say or express on stage using their own individual sense of humor as detailed in the Killer Stand-up Online Course.

Unfortunately, they cannot seem to grasp that most stand-up comedy material does NOT read funny from a piece of paper–no matter what “style” or system a comedian uses to produce comedy material. Greeting card humor does — stand-up comedy material simply does not work that way.

BIG Stand-up Comedy Tip: Transcribe just ONE minute (60 seconds) of your favorite stand-up comedian word for word and read it. You will see for yourself EXACTLY what I am talking about.

Greeting card humor is “written” and designed to be “read” in a one dimensional format (words/sentences on paper).

Stand-up comedy material is three dimensional and is designed to be expressed (delivered) in front of a live audience — as a fluid (and seemingly natural) combination of words, body language and voice tone variations that provides a combined effect to generate the big laughs.

And since most of an individual’s laughter power comes from their delivery (93%), without that knowledge I can’t even begin to make an accurate assessment whether or not an individual’s comedy material is actually funny for the stage just from reading words and sentences on paper.

Yes, I can tell if some material on paper might have comedy potential–but only a small amount without the information about how the material will be delivered. Even then, what “reads” funny from a piece of paper can flop big time when delivered to an audience unless other factors are taken into account.

IMPORTANT: It should be noted that professional joke writers can only effectively write “jokes” for comedians when they know their delivery and presentation style and can visualize that comedian actually performing the material. Again, most of the “jokes” won’t “read” funny. The joke writer knows it and the comedian knows it.

That’s one of the reasons why buying “generic jokes” that simply “read” funny and are not closely associated with a comedian’s delivery style, attitude, mannerisms, etc. is a really bad idea.

2. Without a video of the individual actually performing, I have no clue as to an individual’s speaking or presentation style. I don’t know what they sound like and I don’t know what they look like on stage.

And most importantly, I have absolutely no solid way of knowing how they will actually deliver that material on stage — regardless of what it “reads” like on paper.

I would be doing these individuals a major disservice and would be no different than most of the so-called stand-up comedy “coaches” out there if I tried to “pontificate” on whether or not an individual’s comedy material on paper will actually produce laughs where it really matters—on the comedy stage.

Don’t get me wrong — if my schedule permits, I will work on comedy material with individuals during phone coaching and I will review their material on paper provided it is in the Killer Stand-up Comedy System format (I prefer to have a performance video too—even if it is less than stellar).

But I won’t just read an individual’s comedy material simply off the page only as “written”, even if it is in the Killer Stand-up Comedy System format for the purposes of determining whether it is funny or not — no matter how much a person is willing to pay to have it done.

The reasons should be obvious after reading this article — there are simply too many missing puzzle pieces to make the solid, professional determination folks want about the effectiveness of their comedy material from mere words and sentences as they “read” from a piece of paper.

Now for those folks who are hell bent on having a “comedy coach” review their stand-up comedy material merely from paper and are willing to pay for it no matter what…

There are plenty of those so-called comedy coaches around who will gladly “read” a comedian’s material and provide an “opinion” without accounting for anything else I have presented in this article.

I’m just not one of them, nor do I wish to be associated with those who offer those sort of “review” services from a single and largely ineffective viewpoint.

For more information about Steve Roye, author of this blog and the Killer Stand-up Online Course, click here.

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